The Terrors suffered more ignominy on Monday night as their exit from the Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership was confirmed by a 2-1 defeat to city rivals Dundee.
Reports coming out of the city now suggest boss Mixu Paatelainen will pay for failing to save United's top-flight place with his job.
But aside from the managerial position, the Tangerines appear to be a rudderless ship drifting without direction.
Thompson has found himself the target of supporter anger but it is understood he will walk away if he can find someone willing to buy out his 53 per cent stake in United.
But midfielder Rankin - who is out of contract this summer - has called on the boardroom boss to make clear his strategy as the club face up to their first season outside of Scotland's top division in 20 years.
He said: "Everything has made an impact over the last 18 months when you look at the things that have gone on both on and off the pitch
"It's been a turbulent period
Things have happened we have no control over but that's no excuse
We've not been good enough
"The club needs clarity, I don't know if the chairman is trying to sell or keep a hold of the club but if he is we need a bit of clarity so everyone knows what is happening.
"We're going to find ourselves in the Championship and that will be a difficult division to get out of
I know that from previous experience
I played in it 10 years ago and it was extremely difficult to get out of then
It's only got stronger since.
"Whoever comes in, they will find it very difficult.
"We weren't aware of the off-field stuff until the last home game where you could hear the fans outside.
"The long and short of it is we don't take our chances and we lose too many goals
This is the lowest point of my career."
Paatelainen still believes he is the man to rebuild United but admitted that whoever leads the team next season will have to fix a variety of major problems if they are to bounce back at the first attempt.
Speaking after the loss at Dens Park which sealed his side's fate, he said: "Obviously the team needs to have big changes personnel-wise
We have to stop being so soft and slack
"We need big players who have more character and who are more disciplined
We need more leaders, men who are more ruthless, more decisive, who are hungry and ambitious before we get a winning team out
"There are also some other football-related issues that need to be addressed
I won't go and start talking about them but unless we get all those things sorted we're going to stay in a mess like this, because that simply wasn't good enough."
Source : PA
Source: PA